Pneumatic track and street cleaner.



F. L. WARNER.

PNEUMATIC TRACK AN) STREET JJUWHI.

I APPLICATIONHLEDSULL HHS. 1,1 7,209.

Pan-um June: 13, $9.16.

4 SHEtTS SHEL' i.

MW! W W/ a 2 f WITNES8ES BY I 2 64); "lemma us F. L, WARNER.

PNEUMMIC TRACK'AND STREET CLEANER.

APPLiCATlON FELED SUT. T 1915.

" larvntwl June 13, 1916.

4 SHEETS -SHEET 2.

WI T/VESSES INVENTOR f2 [Mar/2e)" F. L. WARNER.

PNEUMATIC TRACK AND STREET CLEANER.

APPLICATTON FILED SEPT. 1. I915.

' Pmmmd J um 13, N16.

WARNER, 9F R-OCKAWAY BEACH, NEW YORK.

PNEUMATIC TRACK AND STREET CLEANER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 13, 1916.

Application filed September 7, 1915. Serial No. 49,379.

To all Whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, FRANK L. Human, acitizen of the Uniiecl States, and a resident of Reckoning Eeach, in the county of Queens and State of New York; have invented a new and Improved Pneumatic Track'ancl Street Cleaner, of which the following is a full, c ean-and exact description.

This invention relates to apparatus for collecting dirt or lost and has particular refeyencc so machines for drawing (lust and iiiiil i'mn the sui'face of streets, ronel mys, mile menus or the likev 1;; the objects of the invention is to prm'iole fl machine made functional either be a blast of air, air suction, or :i combinw "men of suction and bisst for the purpose of drawing or blowing out or dust from or through the rough ballast of rail a-y road beds, or along places ordinarily inaccessible by the usual sweeping apparatus.

Another object of the invention is to provide :1 machine for cleaning railway tracks, such machine being mounted upon a truck 11ml aiiziptee to roll upon the railway mils, either by its own power or by being pushed ahead of or being trail in the rear of any c cle on such rails.

is to'pi'oviiie an in- 1 l1 nsi or dirt conveying zipporw ins as Wl'il W i imodzite l .SPii' to all of the sm'iuce l e- .i'ou g ing' clceneil i1; i of tlic intake beings, such that the manipulation of the flirt or (insiwili be confined to the intake tlius pre venting the spread. of dirt or disease germs as a i'esulfl of the operation of the macl'iinc.

Witliiho foregoing and other objects in in Elk pasts l.. a1 Lei mi while the inwn- 61.211 Moi.- 1 o the. execs. (lei ails of coi'isti-uc'fon caseload herein still for'tlie pni'pose o1": illustrating a practical embodiie-rcof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the some parts in the several views and in whicli-- Figure 1 a side elevation of the prefeired embo limont'of the invention shown as being Hailed at. the rem: of another cnr'j Fig. is 3. ve tical transverse section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig: 3 is a plan View of one of the lever supporting! icvices at cornei' of him portable frame of the machine;

Fi m is a vertical sectional detail on he line 4-4 of Fig. 3; Fi 5 is a vertical sect onal view substantm ll y on the line 5-5 of 1* 1;. 2; F 1g. (3- is a vertical transverse section on the line e e of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a horizontal section on line 7--7 of Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is a detail sectional View on the broken line SS -8 of Fig. 1; Fig. 9 is '1 side elevation. in diagram indicating a (:01 plete cleaning ap pmatus with means for manipulating the air and disposing of the product; and Fig. 10 a plan View of the some but: indicating the operators.platform at the rear of the cleaning device.

Referring more particularly 6o the dun ings, I slice; 1: portable fisme lfimounteii upon wheels 16 adapted lo rim upon the usual railway rails 17 either in front or at the rear of :1 car 18.

w iis premised above, however, the complete. cleaning apparatus may lie self-contained and selfpropelled or the equivalent of the frmne may he found in any com-'entional form of railway car with the floor thereof aofi pteo for the man ilYiiOIi of the intake and ports associated directly therewith. it

also to be understood seat the structure and opeicfiion of the cli'zanii'ig a; point! are us-xrily confined to railway tracks me be well ailaipfexl for opei'z-iiion Ways or fie i s inifliczitcil at. L)

l! conipi r a substei'iiielly rigid hood 2 0 is. inning a horizontal top and (lownwin At the ceoizci the hood is jirovialeil a form i 22 ha ling \"l nvnwa dly flaring moutli the lower dges of which spaced upwarelly a munijecting rim or flange up v i-iion of the iuxmel com; upwardly and leads ini'o so cloo'w pipe I to :fillfiii sibl joins inking. to xvi 7 2d. an air pig-c "2 of any suitable size 01" character cominuni eating with the air manipulating apparatus. As shown in Fig. 9'such apparatus may in clinic one or more pumps and suitable separators with :i plurality of vaivesjfoi conirolling the movement of tliepcu-i'rents of air as may be found desirable at arious times. 'lheillusti ation covers a separator 27, which may bed a well-known gravity type and into which the pipe 26 leads. I

28 is a vacuum pump connected to the top J cm the seperatpr and tends to creegeagacenm not only n the of inches from the surface to be cleaned.

separator but throughout the system of piping above described.

29 is another pump which may be employed to store compressed air into a compressed air tank 30. The air may be drawn through an intake 31 fromthe outside atmosphere or may in part be received from the vacuum pump 28. If, however, the air passing through the v vacuum pump is charged with fine particles 'of dust not removed by the gravity separator 27 such air may be caused to pass through the auxiliary separator 32, which may be of a well-known gravity type or may be provided with spraying means to collect such dust. From this separator the air may be discharged at 33. A compressed air trunk 34 leads from the compression tank to points adjacent the intake 19. From this trunk there leads a series of pipes 35 and 36 each having a valve to control the blast therethrough, such valves being within reach of the operator upon a platform 37.

The intake structure comprises front and rear walls 38 and 39 and end walls 40. The compressed air blast pi es 36 lead downwardly toward the top 0 the hood 20 where they are connected with the goose necks 41, of nozzles 42 and 43, adjacent the front and rear walls 38 and 39. Each of these nozzles comprises a horizontal tubuilar shaft 44 journaled in brackets 45 on the inside of the hood. Each goose neck 41 is curved on are of the circle whose center coincides with the axis of the pipe 44 and is slidable through a. substantial airtight collar 46 in the top of the hood. The pipe 44 extends transversely of the apparatus substantially the full length of the intake and carries a plurality of nozzle jets, the free ends of which are bent inwardly toward the funnel 23.

At' 47 I provide rods connected by rings 48 to the upper ends of the goose necks, said rods being arranged to be adjusted vertically and hooked over studs 48' to determine the angular adjustment of the nozzle devices around the axes of the pipes 44. The intake 19 as a whole is adapted to be elevated so as to swing more or less oil the road way by any suitable means under the control of the operator, such means being shown herein as flexible connections 49 secured to eyes 50 at the top of the hood, such connections 49 leading over any suitable number or position of direction pulleys to a drum 51 and adapted to be manipulated by means of worm gearing 52 at the rear end of a shaft 53, provided with a universal joint 54 and a hand wheel 55 adjacent the platform 37.

The compressed air blast pipes 35 lead to nozzles 56 opposite the ends 40 of the intake. As shown in Figs. 2 and 8 each nozzle 56 is held by a bridle 57 and pivoted on a vertical pivot 58 with respect to the controlling lever 59. A guard 60 is secured to the lever 59 and passes around the outside of the bridle guarding the same from damage from any obstruction along the line of movement of the apparatus. A stirrup 61 is connected to the inner face of the guard 60 and embraces the nozzle 56. These end blast nozzles 56 are intended especially for driving thev dust and dirt from the sides of the roadway beneath the ends 40 of the intake, especially is the nozzle 56 useful in connection with the cleansing of the third rail 62 and the parts associated therewith. The blast is preferably directed so as to blow beneath the rail thereby causing the (lust and dirt to be loosened and started toward the intake where the suction augmen ed by the blast from the nozzles 42 and 43 gathers the dust and dirt and disposes of it as above set forth.

At 63 I provide a series of strong but flexible tongues arranged along the front and rear walls 38 and 39 of the intake. These tongues may be formed by slitting a sheet or strip of steel or the like clamped between a pair of plates 64 within the flange '21 of the hood and secured to such flange by rivets 65 or other equivalent. Similar tongues or guards may be employed at the ends of the intake but I prefer for such pur- 'poses a row of ratan 66 shown best in Fig.

6, the same being clamped at the upper ends between strips of wood 67 clamped between steel plates 68 and secured by screws 69. The upper ends of the ratan are preferably corrugated to prevent displacement in connection with the clamping devices.

Outside of the guard. or tongue devices 63 and 66, I provide an apron 70 made of any suitable strong, tough. flexible fabric or composition adapted to hang flatly against the guard or tongue means and close to the surface to be cleansed, the function of the apron being to direct the air so as to cause it to pass closely over or through the structure of the roadbed, it being understood that at least a portion of the air set in motion by the apparatus will be drawn in fresh from the outside of the intake. As shown in Fig. each apron may consist of a downwardly projecting end of a roll carried within a rigid casing 71, a portion of which casing constitutes a part of the top of the hood. A tongue 72 may be struck out of the casing 71 to provide an opening 73 for the pipe 36 and rod 47, and also to form a. means for additionally connecting the casing to the funnel. The desired length of apron is held' by a clamping bar 74 by means of set screws 75 acting through the outer and lower portion of the casing 71 against the outer face of the bar 74. I also employ an apron 70 at each end lying against the ratan 66, there being less wear upon the aprons at the ends short lengths only may be relied upon at these parts. These aprons 70 at the ends are held in place by 0 best in Fig 7 comm wood or the like :ignii +7 which is n bowed npr one end of this clamp l in plnmuthe other 7 sprung inwardly and hi by nnnns of a hull; 7S uoii 'iernting with tud TE). 11. turn buckle 8() l eing used in a l}! 11 the length of lhe bolt. The upper inriinn of rhe end aprons may he tiefb up Lnnquormily. ii cle sired.

A skeleton frame 8% i: r murmi. in the top of the hood :unl fnnnrl ntilf'nning: :inii rein forcing the same and run tufinf: 2: guide means cooperating with :l connectwl to the nni'in fr; L1 cornnr of the lfrannl5 n :i -,;-rti Mil i f ll and tiw two sunk. A Mi: siw or ihe frnniv :uljncvnl U1.- w im or mi; mun: ;up-- ports for knuckles *5 123,1 l Whirliihu in N15 59 are ndjlwtnhly mount, Each knuckle At ranch S5 in addition to the lwi'e or line stud 83- his a trnnrversn horn for llflill'ffini'il oolt '8 vxtmnling through rinx-i, moth-ell ])llll( R7 is senurwl to the h nh-ig with linnili n l lny thv lvver luring l'lQl l in i n of n nut 88 ruling? thr= The knuckle also lHW i i i HL will wnslnu' UH, sun'roui. i i; H23. and a nut ill nets ihrmx' 92 lo cause the knuvlaln io hr; 1 n onnenlion w'li iiw n: 23- in) or ailil, {in liolt; or shall H3? The *rtiiwl Al toothed joints in the knuckle l'lilmilillillflll and he tween the lmncklv aim. iiw lever piutif 9? provides a means, whereby the lergr. may be adjusted or shifted in an (la-sired direction and then leflto he :iutmnniimlly held such lost (lLHlJlgI the niw nismsu i f Pauli ply tln. wngnes than i i one ply hrczik joint; mljn rrnt ply when tight rvsiult is pron means may he n ooniwrol the in aprons.

I claim i--- Any sings H to I nruu uilntimi Oi like f llllfj; franw l and vart-icall :uljnslnhh: airing lhe frame. means supported on iilm frnmn to (:ontrnl the Lid-- justmen tsof the intake, and air blast devices cuiipe ailing with the intake and comprising a plurality of jet nnzzles directed toward the neuter line of the intake.

In a device of threlm-winter set forth, the combination of a supporting frame hming vertical guides therein, an intake com prising a hood, :unl i funnel connected to the honcl and guided vertically in said frame guides, means pirated to the frame for manipulating the intake lalnmlly of the line of motion of the device. and means journaled upon the frame for fkitnrmining the vertical :nljustnwnt of the intake with respect'to the frmnm In :1 device of {he (Tlflil'ilf'ifil' set fnri'h, the uouil inatinn (if u rwclnnggulur mmmrting frnmo, RMHHIS to trznuriw, the frame along the line oi' n 'irrution, an intake supported in said frunn means to nninipnlate the intake rnrtizrnl y and hiteruliy during the npernlzion thereof, said intake being adapted to operate close ioithe surface in he cleaned and includinn 1 pluiaiiir of aprons zuljarrnt the ei'lgws thm'eor' next. :o the iEEllfiifiU to be cleaned, ninl animus to cause currents ofair to hen-Quill lilld aprons and into thn 'iuti'ike.

fl. in [l rlrviw; of tin: lfllkli'ZUjH! set lorlln the \Li'i'll'lhllflilllflll n'ilh pin-innufiin iipg lianccs for winning current; or lr-lnsfs of rain, of an intnh'e. new-ins: for supp rting tln; intnin? for inorrnient along UV?! 7hr nli-iineil. mill intake noun-wining :i liOCul'.

intake uonil'irising a hollow raising. a funnel (ixtnniling upwardly ill the center thereof and huvii I1 :lornlr: ylly fir-ring month. opnr-wl npnnr lly from {he nri'ama lwi 1g clennnrl. and n pvriaa-s 1 lair t llnri lrs, n portion of wit f it? within the 0nsin? of I porti n if 1 of tin in- Wuniii far:

fill, ai rh ing; namin lzinllii.

.Lli w ns? 1 in linnminn r-lenncrn vi .1 Quinn liar? stimiiiilly horizontal run and din inwardly prnjvrliing flange (All uh I thnrvaround, a. funnel having it, alo'wrnmiil 5' flaring nmnth beneath the dome and ext-ending thence up irrarslly tlu'ercthrough. A series of flexible elastir {flight :lcrivrs seemed n'i'lhin said flange and orlnniiing (l 'nvn\ .nrill around the funnel. mouth and air hhist devices npcmting h id (lame and terminating in a. H i jol, darken new can the elastic tongues; and, rim funnel T, In a cleaning device, an intake coinprising a dome )mwng u (i ivwmvzu'dly pmjotting periplwml iiangr, :1 fmmvl tending upwardiy ihmugfh he renter of ills: dnnw. guard magma sm-umi in me 11mm izmgu and (tending ;1m m\'u' 21(1j:"'f flh fin-1216c to be cleunvli, mini 1'. blast {wives carried by the intake (-mnpri 1g =1 plu nifty 0f. noz- 210s ju'nnnled trim 01y wifllin the J0me and having :1 sex-i 0t nozzies dilmztwl toward the space mlih the fumn-l. .nid inst nwntiunmi (hm-$1 im-Eudlng :1 guuse new]; curved on an m 21 cirriiv from the axis of rutnt'inn Hf Um nozzle and movable upwardly through the inmaa Mun the" .mrfaz'o pigwsr Whirl-vim may he Wm-i Interior of Ti'h i.

: mntlmiw: Em Dimming and conv ywin; {111* F 11 3: K \Vk RN ER.

'itne-s usi (Hm. L. Timur 

